Well, holy crap, Bjork just upped the ante on the break-up album! I'm not making light of Bjork's personal tragedy, but, damn, the brutal soul-baring on display here just forces a nervous reaction.
I mentioned to my dear wife that all break-up albums must be compared to Joni Mitchell's "Blue". She disagreed, but if you want her side of the story, read her blog (oh yeah, there isn't one. First point to me.)
And "Blue" isn't really a "break-up album" -- maybe 3 songs are specifically about a broken relationship. But the songs that were are fierce in their nakedness.
And now we have Bjork's "Vulnicura", detailing the break-up of her marriage. Sounds just what you want to listen to on the commute, right?
I love me some Bjork, but the last 2 albums left me confused and uninterested. So this one, as bleak as it sounds, reasserts Bjork's musical mastery. The string arrangements are subtly evocative, the instrumental backing has all the force of a moving glacier, the lyrics are personal and yet universal, and there are melodies again! Too bad she had to go through so much pain to get there.
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